Imagine living in a world where people use their computers, drive their cars, and communicate with one another simply by thinking. In this stunning and inspiring work, Duke University neuroscientist Miguel Nicolelis shares his revolutionary insights into how the brain creates thought and the human sense of self - and how this might be augmented by machines, so that the entire universe will be within our reach.

Infinite Reality: Avatars, Eternal Life, New Worlds, and the Dawn of the Virtual Revolution

How do The Matrix, Avatar, and Tron reveal the future of existence? Can our brains recognize where "reality" ends and "virtual" begins? What would it mean to live eternally in a digital universe? Where will technology lead us in five, 50, and 500 years? Two innovative scientists explore the mystery and reality of the virtual and examine the profound potential of emerging digital technologies. Welcome to the future....

Consciousness and the Brain: Deciphering How the Brain Codes Our Thoughts

How does the brain generate a conscious thought? And why does so much of our knowledge remain unconscious? Thanks to clever psychological and brain-imaging experiments, scientists are closer to cracking this mystery than ever before. In this lively book, Stanislas Dehaene describes the pioneering work his lab and the labs of other cognitive neuroscientists worldwide have accomplished in defining, testing, and explaining the brain events behind a conscious state.

The Myth of Mirror Neurons: The Real Neuroscience of Communication and Cognition

The Myth of Mirror Neurons, neuroscientist Gregory Hickok reexamines the mirror neuron story and finds that it is built on a tenuous foundation - a pair of codependent assumptions about mirror neuron activity and human understanding. Drawing on a broad range of observations from work on animal behavior, modern neuroimaging, neurological disorders, and more, Hickok argues that the foundational assumptions fall flat in light of the facts.

How to Create a Mind: The Secret of Human Thought Revealed

Ray Kurzweil, the bold futurist and author of the New York Times best seller The Singularity Is Near, is arguably today’s most influential technological visionary. A pioneering inventor and theorist, he has explored for decades how artificial intelligence can enrich and expand human capabilities. Now, in his much-anticipated How to Create a Mind, he takes this exploration to the next step: reverse-engineering the brain to understand precisely how it works, then applying that knowledge to create vastly intelligent machines.

The Future of the Mind: The Scientific Quest to Understand, Enhance and Empower the Mind

Penguin presents the unabridged, downloadable audiobook edition of The Future of the Mind by Michio Kaku, the international best-selling author of Physics of the Impossible. Read by the actor Feodor Chin. Recording memories, mind reading, videotaping our dreams, mind control, avatars, and telekinesis - no longer are these feats of the mind solely the province of overheated science fiction. As Michio Kaku reveals, not only are they possible, but with the latest advances in brain science and recent astonishing breakthroughs in technology, they already exist.

Evolving Ourselves

Why are conditions like autism, asthma, obesity, and allergies exploding at unprecedented rates? Why are we living longer, getting smarter, having far fewer kids? If Darwin were alive today, how would he explain this new world?

Virtually Human: The Promise - and the Peril - of Digital Immortality

Virtually Human explores what the not-too-distant future will look like when cyberconsciousness - simulation of the human brain via software and computer technology - becomes part of our daily lives. Meet Bina48, the world's most sentient robot, commissioned by Martine Rothblatt and created by Hanson Robotics.

Thinking: The New Science of Decision-Making, Problem-Solving, and Prediction

Edited by John Brockman, publisher of Edge.org, Thinking presents original ideas by today's leading psychologists, neuroscientists, and philosophers who are radically expanding our understanding of human thought.

Wired for War: The Robotics Revolution and Conflict in the 21st Century

A military expert reveals how science fiction is fast becoming reality on the battlefield, changing not just how wars are fought, but also the politics, economics, laws, and ethics that surround war itself. Singer’s previous books foretold the rise of private military contractors and the advent of child soldiers - predictions that have proved all too accurate. Now he explores the greatest revolution in military affairs since the atom bomb: robotic warfare. We are now seeing a massive shift in military technology....

Futurevision

The future is not what it used to be. In this volatile era, with the world changing rapidly, people are more curious than ever to know what lies ahead. Will relentless consumerism end up destroying our planet? Or can science and technology allow us to innovate our way out of trouble? Perhaps a greater social consciousness and community-based living will take over or, conversely, the competition for limited resources may result in everyone fighting for themselves.

What Is Life?: How Chemistry Becomes Biology

Seventy years ago, Erwin Schrdinger posed a simple, yet profound, question: What is life?. How could the very existence of such extraordinary chemical systems be understood? This problem has puzzled biologists and physical scientists both before, and ever since. Living things are hugely complex and have unique properties, such as self-maintenance and apparently purposeful behaviour which we do not see in inert matter. So how does chemistry give rise to biology?

Life at the Speed of Light: From the Double Helix to the Dawn of Digital Life

In 2010, scientists led by J. Craig Venter became the first to successfully create "synthetic life" - putting humankind at the threshold of the most important and exciting phase of biological research, one that will enable us to actually write the genetic code for designing new species to help us adapt and evolve for long-term survival. The science of synthetic genomics will have a profound impact on human existence, including chemical and energy generation, health, clean water and food production, environmental control, and possibly even our evolution.

Rise of the Robots: Technology and the Threat of a Jobless Future

In a world of self-driving cars and big data, smart algorithms and Siri, we know that artificial intelligence is getting smarter every day. Though all these nifty devices and programs might make our lives easier, they're also well on their way to making "good" jobs obsolete. A computer winning Jeopardy might seem like a trivial, if impressive, feat, but the same technology is making paralegals redundant as it undertakes electronic discovery, and is soon to do the same for radiologists.

Breakpoint: Why the Web Will Implode, Search Will Be Obsolete, and Everything Else You Need to Know About Technology Is in Your Brain

We are living in a world in which cows send texts to farmers when they're in heat, where the most valuable real estate in New York City houses computers, not people, and some of humanity's greatest works are created by crowds, not individuals. We are in the midst of a networking revolution - set to transform the way we access the world's information and the way we connect with one another. Studying biological systems is perhaps the best way to understand such networks, and nature has a lesson for us if we care to listen: Bigger is rarely better in the long run.

Mind Wide Open: Your Brain and the Neuroscience of Everyday Life

Brilliantly exploring today's cutting edge brain research, Mind Wide Open allows readers to understand themselves and the people in their lives as never before. Using a mix of experiential reportage, personal storytelling, and fresh scientific discovery, Steven Johnson describes how the brain works and how its systems connect to the day-to-day realities of individual lives.

The Island of Knowledge: The Limits of Science and the Search for Meaning

How much can we know about the world? In this audiobook physicist Marcelo Gleiser traces our search for answers to the most fundamental questions of existence, the origin of the universe, the nature of reality, and the limits of knowledge. In so doing he reaches a provocative conclusion: Science, like religion, is fundamentally limited as a tool for understanding the world. As science and its philosophical interpretations advance, we face the unsettling recognition of how much we don't know.

Radical Abundance: How a Revolution in Nanotechnology Will Change Civilization

K. Eric Drexler is the founding father of nanotechnology - the science of engineering on a molecular level. In Radical Abundance, he shows how rapid scientific progress is about to change our world. Thanks to atomically precise manufacturing, we will soon have the power to produce radically more of what people want, and at a lower cost. The result will shake the very foundations of our economy and environment.

The Enlightened Brain: The Neuroscience of Awakening

There's been a major breakthrough in the world's oldest research experiment. For over 2,500 years, Buddhist meditators have investigated the human psyche. Now with the help of modern neuroscience, we have gained an unprecedented understanding of how the brain responds to meditation practice - which gives you powerful tools for changing your own brain for more happiness, love, and wisdom.

Publisher's Summary

A pioneering neuroscientist shows how the long-sought merger of brains with machines is about to become a paradigm-shifting reality.

Imagine living in a world where people use their computers, drive their cars, and communicate with one another simply by thinking. In this stunning and inspiring work, Duke University neuroscientist Miguel Nicolelis shares his revolutionary insights into how the brain creates thought and the human sense of self - and how this might be augmented by machines, so that the entire universe will be within our reach.

Beyond Boundaries draws on Nicolelis's ground-breaking research with monkeys that he taught to control the movements of a robot located halfway around the globe by using brain signals alone. Nicolelis's work with primates has uncovered a new method for capturing brain function - by recording rich neuronal symphonies rather than the activity of single neurons. His lab is now paving the way for a new treatment for Parkinson's, silk-thin exoskeletons to grant mobility to the paralyzed, and breathtaking leaps in space exploration, global communication, manufacturing, and more.

Beyond Boundaries promises to reshape our concept of the technological future, to a world filled with promise and hope.

Miguel Nicolelis, a Duke University neuroscientist, is a leader in brain-machine-interface research. He has produced in “Beyond Boundaries: The New Neuroscience of Connecting Brains with Machines – and How It Will Change Our Lives” a history of neuroscience and a description of the research in the field. In particular, he describes his work with rats and then monkeys which have been able to manipulate robots through the use of their brains – alone. Others have been involved in such research and their work is aptly displayed for the reader and placed into context. This research holds great promise for use with humans particularly having muscular disability. Immediately, I could see the use of this technology with light exoskeletons which would help individuals to walk or use their arms without help. The history of neuroscience may be a little much for those just encountering the field. However, I think that almost anyone can follow Nicolelis’ story and descriptions of his work. This is cutting edge research and Nicolelis allows the uninitiated a window on what is coming to be. The reading is exactly what you have come to expect from Patrick Egan – wonderful.

A neuroscience memoir of thought-provoking work, experimental brain interfaces and thought control tests told through the lens of Nicolelis' own academic history and Brazilian based life story.

The book offers specific and compelling evidence for not only controlling robotic systems remotely, but also for how our brain is naturally built to incorporate external apparatus and sense data directly into the body map and further into the sense of self, for brain connected robotics that restore the ability to walk to the paralyzed, for thought-based personal interaction, and even for direct brain to brain connections that create literal brain networks and a higher order of complexity.

Very inspiring concrete experiments to shake some of these formerly sci-fi concepts loose from their intermediate fiction. Indeed the specifics of the experimental methods are sharp enough to be double-edged, disengaging from the overall visionary narrative to bring the reader back down into the due diligence of science and Nicolelis' experience as researcher and academic, which, while important to establish the validity of the book's premise, are less accessible than the grand ideas described in the preceding paragraph. Still, Nicolelis does it right by interspersing anecdotes of Brazilian football matches or personal history to keep the book moving.

With regard to the audiobook Patrick Egan reads the book well for the most part, though I found a few phrasings lacking in what I think was the author's tonal intent, and in particular I often found myself wishing Mr. Egan would quicken his pace somewhat (though the slower reading during the technically dense material was quite appropriate).

Miguel, may be a genius, however, I'll have to actually read this book in paper or digital format. Patrick Egan's narration was painful for me to listen to. Usually I can find some redeeming value in even the most challenging narrator, but in this case I had to stop listening.

Has Beyond Boundaries turned you off from other books in this genre?

No, I love this genre

How did the narrator detract from the book?

Dry, over enunciated, and a bit pompous, are a few adjectives I'd use to describe the narration

If you could play editor, what scene or scenes would you have cut from Beyond Boundaries?

Couldn't get past the first narrated chapter. I'll let you know after I read the book.

Miguel Nicolelis' describing the implications of BMI's and BMBI's was so eloquent and romantic. I couldn't help myself from yelping in joy while I was listening to his book. I was very moved and I truly hope the future of neuro tech unfolds as Dr. Nicolelis prescribes. Amazing work!!! And Patrick Egan was awesome! A definite must for those who are optimistic about the future of technology and society. As for those cynics, you should listen too! Dr. Nicolelis provides an excellent argument for his stance. Great piece of work!

If you are looking for a pedantic recounting of the history of neuroscience this book is for you. There is far more boring detail than is necessary to communicate the interesting concepts, and there is far too little insightful theory.

Would you try another book written by Miguel Nicolelis or narrated by Patrick Egan?

I would absolutely try another book written by Miguel Nicolelis or narrated by Patrick Egan - especaially if Dr. Nicolelis who is a splendind storyteller and has been involved in breathtaking neuroscience research would tune down the drawn out anectdotes and ceaseless soccer-parrallels.

What other book might you compare Beyond Boundaries to, and why?

"Beyond Boundaries" have great things in common with neuroscience classics like Pinker's "How The Mind Works" and Damasio's "Descartes' error", mixing vivid case stories with his own scientific thinking.

What does Patrick Egan bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you had only read the book?

Egan has a comforting voice, and genuinely sounds like he's telling his own science stories.

If this book were a film would you go see it?

Well...hm... there is stuff for several almost sci-fi movies in this non-fiction book. Sure, I'd go see a movie based on it.

Any additional comments?

The only snag is, that this book is too long. Dr. Nicolelis is doing an admirable job of trying to soften up the difficult scientific content with anecdotes and real-world examples (notably drawn from soccer when trying to explain complex systems dynamics), but he shoots way over the proverbial goal. The book would have been better if edited down by at least 25%. I'm pursuing a phd with strong neuroscience components, and even I couldn't finish it, but had to take it up several times.

0 of 0 people found this review helpful

Fenando

Vina del Mar, Chile

4/13/13

Overall

"Welcome to the future"

Nicolelis is not a futurist. He is part of the future. I have been following his research since the 90's.

It just incredible to have the opportunity to get into ideas that a scientist's mind is getting while doing cutting edge science. He is not just a hardcore researcher, but also a visionary. He is not just dreaming the future, he is building it.

0 of 0 people found this review helpful

Amazon Customer

8/29/11

Overall

"interesting but...."

It is a fascinating topic and there are very engaging parts of the book but overall it becomes bogged down in details making it a little laborious for the ordinary listener.

0 of 0 people found this review helpful

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